Blackjack Strategies

Blackjack is like all other casino games in that the odds are in favor of the house. The better that you are at making the decisions on how to play your hand, in Blackjack, the better that you can reduce the casino’s advantage. An interesting thing about Blackjack is that if you can keep track of the cards that have been dealt from the deck it will give you an idea of the cards that are left. With this information if you adjust your bets so that they are increased at times when the remaining cards in the deck are more favorable to you, then you can completely remove the casino’s advantage and swing the advantage in to your favor. This is a strategy that is called card counting. Although there is nothing illegal about card counting, the casinos frown upon it and are know to bar players from the casino if they are know to count cards. This fact alone is proof that the system works.

Basic Strategy

There are some optimal player strategies based upon the dealer’s up card. These are the recommended actions:

Hand totals excluding pairs

Dealer Hand

PlayerHand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
17-20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	SU	SU	SU
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	SU	H
13-14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H
10	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H
9	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
5-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

Soft Totals

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,8 A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,7	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	H
A,6	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 A,5	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
A,2 A,3	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H

Pairs

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
9,9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
8,8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
6,6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
2,2 3,3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H

S = Stand

H = Hit

Dh = Double (if not allowed, then hit)

Ds = Double (if not allowed, then stand)

SP = Split

SU = Surrender (if not allowed, then hit except stand on 16 vs 10 if not first two cards)

In most casinos the dealer has to hit on a soft 17. A soft 17 is an ace and a 6. It is a hand that can equal 7 or 17 and that you can not bust by taking one card. Many casinos also offer a variety of side bets.

For more information visit Casinogamestrategies.org